Ep 9 Being Responsible in the internet era

Hello and welcome back to Being Meraklis a podcast by Shwetha Sivaraman.

What a glorious week it has been, I am thrilled to share that Being Meraklis is now available in Spotify and Apple Podcasts. It is an amazing feeling to see this community grow from scratch. From being just thoughts that haunt me in some moments to looking forward to talking about every week. A year ago, I don’t think I would have ever had the courage to put myself out there, to talk openly about my deepest fears and thoughts and to share it with the world but I am really glad I did. I love how much more conscious I am during the week, picking up on little things I feel along the way, exploring if it is something the listeners would resonate. Thank you once again for being a part of this journey and I promise to continue to strive and add value and perspective to the little things that make life beautiful irrespective of its up and downs.

Without further ado, today I wanted to speak about something which could be viewed as unpopular in today’s world. But I am hoping you’ll hear me out with reason. I want to talk about “Being Responsible in the Internet Era”.

I felt this is a topic that needs addressing in today’s time. Every time I see social media, there is hatred spread across. Irrespective of the subject verbal venom is spewed with every polarized audience sticking to what they think is right. Wars are fought online in the age of the internet. Every week I see new uproars, the hashtags change but the anger and hatred do not.

The more negative a piece of content is, the more viral it becomes. Anger, Hatred, Sympathy are emotions media houses feed off of cause it improves the consumption of their content significantly. Something good and positive, long-lasting, sustaining and self-sufficient is a lot of work to attract readers, however click bait headlines come by easy and triggers people to take immediate action.

Judgement is also instantaneous. As soon as there is a breaking news, there are multiple twitter fires brewing, with people taking sides. Freedom of speech is abused to say whatever comes at the top of the mind, to share without paying heed to consequences, to vociferously support causes with no basis.

Social Media is a great platform to give voice to the people, do not get me wrong. If not for social media and the platforms of the internet era, you would probably not be listening to me right at this very moment.

But with freedom comes responsibility. How well are we really using it? We are probably one of the last generations to have spent at least a part of our childhood before the internet boom. We knew how life was before technology. A not so inter-connected world. A not so brutally fast world. A world where you had time to mull things over to think things through, to have qualitative debates and constructive criticism to move ahead instead of running around in circles. It is our responsibility to reinforce, to remind, that freedom is still freedom with a little bit restrain.

Let us first talk about why we impulsively react, and try and understand where this mob mentality spurs out of control.
First and foremost, I think it is FOMO, Fear of Missing Out. We are filled with FOMO in this internet era. We either take a stand and stand tall right away or we might as well be non-existent.

Second, in the world of hashtags every subject is binary cause imagine how long the hashtag would be if you said this is not right but I think this could be the reason why this happened in which case I can see the reasoning behind it. The hashtag itself would need 140 characters right? Its easier to say save planet earth and no to plastics. So for every cause we are divided, polar opposite hashtags only.Its yay or nay and nothing between.

Third, receiving partial information and believing that to be the whole truth. This is probably the single biggest problem of the internet era. We read one or two lines in an article and have already chosen a side. Or we read a post shared by influencer and you pass that on as your words cause that is the bible today right? With the internet, there is widespread abundance of information, irrespective of any physical, geographical location constraints. There is more information available than one could absorb in a lifetime.

But the challenge is not the abundance of information but the lack of information without any agenda. Every source of information has an agenda behind it. We no longer receive facts, we receive opinions, someone’s rehashed opinions. Rehashed based on what no one really knows. So when we base our decisions on rehashed opinions with no reasonable ground, constructive debates go out the window and the thrash we read on Twitter feeds is what we get.

Looking back, a lot has changed in our decision-making process in the past two decades. Before the internet, one used to look inward, think through the facts available and speak based on validated knowledge and judgment. Without internet what one spoke was also limited to the geography and the local community. One had to earn one’s right to be heard, one needed the acceptance of the community.

However, with the era of internet dawning upon us, geography is no longer a limiting factor. Neither is expertise. And your appeal as an individual is higher only if you also address global issues in your feed, so you try to be the jack of all trades and the master of none.

So how can we make a small difference in this world, how can we be responsible in the internet era. I believe there are 5 things we can do to make a difference, however insignificant they may be.

1.Read. Read as much as you can as wide as you can. When facts are presented one article is enough for you to understand the subject, but when opinions are presented it is not. Read as many opposing views as you can find and then internalize it.

2.Reflect. Reflect on the reasoning you drew on all the opinions you read, try and filter falsehoods, propaganda messages, things you are being led into believing. You will automatically be able to draw out the real story, facts, and reasoning for both sides of the story.

3.Before voicing out your opinions and taking a stand, be sure to check with yourself if you know enough about the subject you actually want to talk about. Every cause need not be your cause. Every fight need not be your fight. Think about the subject, your expertise in the subject and the difference you can make by voicing out. And hit send only and if only you are sure to add value to the context.

4.Ensure you are putting your point across and in the most effective manner. Articulate it well enough and do not engage in random banter that only spews more crap out in the world.

I love how we as citizens are growing stronger and building vociferously the voice of the common man. But a reactive world does not help in the long run. The problem with immediate anger is that it is immediately forgotten too. For constructive changes to happen, we need to be proactive, understand the consequences and strive to make a difference in the real world rather than waste time on verbal wars online.
And the fifth thing we can do, and probably the most powerful thing we can do to counter the excessive negativity is to spread positivity online – no I don’t mean those fake motivational quotes like reach for the moon and you’ll land in the stars kind. We all know better than that. But stories of genuine kindness, joy, and love. Every beautiful story, concept, ideas, real-life situations, and thoughts that can resonate with others, can enhance our experience online, leave us with a little bit more optimism of what the future has in store. We do not have to use the internet only to share anger. Let us use this platform to spread happiness as well.

It starts with each of us showing discretion in the world online. Pick your battles, be sure of your stand instead of being influenced by sheer mob mentality, and use the internet wisely to make a difference.

Thank you once again for tuning in. One humble request to all listeners, given that the podcast is now on multiple platforms, I wanted to request listeners who wish to be a part of this community to join Being Meraklis on Instagram or Facebook. It shall remain as the constant space where I share updates about the latest episodes, and take feedback from listeners on what they expect next in the podcast series. Looking forward to connecting with you on social media responsibly.

This is Shwetha Sivaraman signing out hoping you have a great week.